All Creatures Great and Small
by CeliaEquus
Summary: Steve is the only Avenger against decimating the housefly buzzing around his head. After all, the fly's not hurting anyone. Helping it escape their cell turns out to be the best thing he could have done. Capsicoul! This story has been a long time coming. Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, or any other Marvel thingummies, nor am I making money from this.


"All Creatures Great and Small"

It was hot, the cell was partially underground, and no human could get in or out. That included the Avengers: Bruce drugged up with some happy pill which made it impossible for him to get angry and Hulk out; Thor bound with magic-suppressing handcuffs; and Tony left with one repulsor from the Iron Man suit. Steve was still slightly dopey from a drug he'd also been given, different from the one which had downed Bruce. He was getting his focus back, which was a blessing at least.

"Better move your head, Cap," Tony growled. "`Cause that fly's a goner."

"Huh?" Steve said, looking up. "What're you talking about, Stark?"

"That housefly," Natasha said. She was scowling from the other side of the cell. He soon noticed that her look of irritation wasn't directed at him. There was indeed a large fly buzzing around nearby. It must've come in through the bars near the ceiling, their only source of air apart from the draught coming under the prison door.

"It's just flying around," Steve said, waving his hand casually.

"It's making a noise," Clint said, adding his complaint. "Loudly."

"Well, it's around my head, not yours. I don't know what your problem is."

"Hold still," Tony grumbled, repulsor charging weakly with what was probably the last of its power. It hadn't had any effect on the door, and they'd agreed to keep some power in reserve in case one of their captors came into the room before the others were ready. It looked like _someone_ intended to waste it for a bit of peace and quiet.

"Tony, what're you doing?" Bruce mumbled, and he giggled from his resting place beside Thor, head on the thunder-wielder's thigh. Thor continued to stroke his hair.

"If Steve would just duck, I could get rid of that thing," Tony said. Steve tried not to gasp in horror. Instead, he just let out an embarrassing squeak.

"I'm seconding the motion," Clint said, raising a hand. Natasha followed, her eyes not leaving the housefly. "That's it. Head down, Cap. At least we can silence something in this goddamned place."

"Don't blaspheme," Steve said automatically. Yes, the housefly was a little bit close, but it wasn't doing them any harm. "Just leave it alone. He's only little. C'mon." He stood shakily, and ushered the fly towards the door. "You'd better go before you get hurt. It's not your fault."

"_Steve_," Tony complained. Steve poked his tongue out at the billionaire, and made sure the fly escaped the room.

"Why don't you focus on trying to break that electronic coding?" he suggested.

"I'm done trying. If it was possible, we'd already be out of here. I'd need more tools than we have here to do anything with the repulsor, and the keypad – if there's a keypad – is clearly on the other side of the door from here."

"And it's getting hotter with every second," Clint said, fanning himself with material he'd ripped from his field uniform. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say there's some kind of…"

He trailed off – and they all looked up – when the door clicked. Without a moment's hesitation, Steve reached out, grabbed the handle, and turned it down.

And the door opened.

"It could be a trap," was all Steve could say.

"Who cares? It's probably our only chance to get out of here. Let's go."

With Tony in the lead to blast through the easier obstacles, Thor right behind him, Clint following as he carried Bruce over his shoulder, and Natasha and Steve bringing up the rear, they continued along passages until they came to the first cross-section.

"Which way do we go?" Tony asked. Steve's gaze zeroed in on a familiar 'face'.

"Someone else is looking for the quickest way out of here," he said, pointing at the same housefly. Okay, it could've been a different fly. But something told him they should follow.

It wasn't too long before it became clear that the fly was leading them. The others were grumbling; but Steve was now convinced that this was the right thing to do, and led them until distant voices became closer. Soon…

"Steve!"

"Phil?" The Avengers rounded the corner, and sure enough, there was their favourite SHIELD agent running up to them. He slipped a phone into his pocket, and Steve could see a remote in one hand.

"Sitwell has the key," Phil said, indicating the handcuffs surrounding Thor's wrists. "We also have antidotes waiting at the Helicarrier. Allow me to carry Dr. Banner."

Clint passed him over, and they all followed their handler. As they walked, the fly continued to buzz along nearby. Steve grabbed the repulsor as soon as he heard Tony charging it up.

"Leave the fly alone," he insisted. Phil chuckled.

"I recommend that you follow Steve's advice," he said. "Research and Development spent a long time developing that."

It wasn't until they were flying back to base – and Phil had captured the 'housefly' and put it in a box – that he explained.

"It's a robot," he said. "We used it to find you, and listen in on your conversation while we broke in from the outside. Once Rogers saw it safely out," he frowned pointedly at the others, and then gave Steve a small smile, "we used it to enter the code to let you out. After that, you followed it to us."

"But… what if we had destroyed it?" Natasha asked.

"We were relying on someone's good nature to stop that from happening." Phil blushed this time as he glanced at Steve. "Good work."

"Oh, well." Steve seemed embarrassed. "It was nothing. I mean, the fly – robot, I guess – didn't do anything to us."

"Can't you make it quieter?" Tony said, still scowling. Phil had forbidden him from playing with the robot.

"Technically, yes. However: one, it needed to appear realistic; two, it comes partly from the robot's function, utilising one of the many searching techniques which have been included in the design; and three, I knew it would annoy you, Stark."

As Tony spluttered, Steve moved to sit next to Phil.

"Can I see it?" he asked. "I promise I won't touch; I'd probably just crush it. But the whole thing sounds interesting."

"Of course," Phil said, hands steady as he drew out the box and opened it. Steve bent his head to take a closer look. He listened, nodding as Phil pointed out and explained each feature, and blocking out Tony's random comments. The remote control dwarfed the robot; but it folded back to look like a mobile phone, and Phil just tucked it into an inner pocket of his jacket.

"Thanks," Steve said. "You rescued us."

Phil cleared his throat, still pink-cheeked. "Well, it was the fly, but—"

"You controlled it, though, right?"

"…I am your handler. It's my job to look after you."

Steve shuffled in his seat a little; but he stayed by Phil's side the rest of the flight, talking about everything but the mission.

* * *

**I've been meaning to write this story for awhile, and it didn't really turn out the way I'd imagined. It's much longer. Sigh. Did you like it anyway?**


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